


The Unknown Scout

by Vaders_Apprentice



Series: I give them all the grief I have / But I tell them, friends, I choose, I choose [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Acceptance, Brutal Pragmatism, Character Death, Character Study, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Children, Choices, Comrades, Comrades in Arms, Death, Death and Dying, Depending on your perspective, Forgotten Ones, Gen, Graduation, Growing Up, Growth, Idealism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspiration, Inspired by Poetry, Killing, Last Moments, Look At Your Life Look At Your Choices, Loyalty, Major Character Injury, Martyrdom, Martyrs, Memorials, Memories, Military, Military Academy, Military Background, Military Training, Minor Character Death, Mortality, My First Work in This Fandom, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), POV Outsider, POV Second Person, Past Character Death, Personal Growth, Poor Life Choices, Post-Graduation, Pragmatic Idealism, Pragmatism, Pride, Realism, Sacrifice, Scout Regiment, Self-Sacrifice, Soldiers, Suicidal Thoughts, Survival, The Unknown Scout, The Unknown Soldier, The Unknown Soldier - Freeform, Titans, Training, Training Camp, Ultimate Sacrifice, War, acceptance of death, ish, ish - freeform, more like being okay with dying, mortal injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 11:58:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19376251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaders_Apprentice/pseuds/Vaders_Apprentice
Summary: The Scout Regiment, through the eyes of an unknown soldier.





	The Unknown Scout

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off the idea of 'The Unknown Soldier', and my take on how they would fit into the world of Attack on Titan. I thought it would be a fascinating concept to play with for my first contribution to this fandom.
> 
> ***
> 
> As always, Attack on Titan does not belong to me.

.

You know, when you reach the end of your training and the time comes for you to join the military, what your options are. You stand at your graduation ceremony, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of your class, and you look at the three people who have come to advocate for their branches, silhouetted against the walls as they rise up against the darkening evening sky.

You could choose the Stationary Guard, tasked with manning the walls from the titan's threat. You know that it is the least demanding of the regiments, and that while its members are mocked for laziness they do preform an important job. But you know, as you look at Rico Brezenka, the representative of her division, that while you respect her you could never condemn yourself to guarding your own cage. You were meant for something else. You know it in your bones, too-light to ever be fully tethered to the ground, and you shift your gaze to the next representative. 

Nile Dok is not present, this year, instead ordering some unremarkable underling to preform what he no-doubt views as a duty with a foregone conclusion. Everyone knows, after all, that the Military Police have the highest wages, the best privileges, the lightest duties. These favored children serve the king, after all, and live in safety inside the inner-most of the walls. True, they have a reputation for corruption, for unearned ease, but what is overlooking such minor issues in exchange for a life of leisure? 'The honor of serving the king' is just a party line, but it is one the representative repeats faithfully, and you wonder if you could do so as well. You are eighth in your training class, after all, which is not overly impressive but is enough to gain you a place among the elite. But, you know you could never stomach overlooking vice in exchange for your own luxury, could never permit yourself to be further caged within still more walls, that much further from the sky, and you know you will not step forward for this man.

You look at the last representative, the one from the Scout Legion, and you almost reconsider. While Rico appears tough, undeniably competent, and the Military Police Representative seems pompous, radiating privilege, the Scout representative seems the most dangerous, somehow, and it is an impression that is reinforced the second they take the podium. The Scouts do not stay caged within the walls like the other two regiments, instead choosing to risk their lives killing titans and searching for ways to fight back. Some call them suicidal, for choosing to spurn the safety offered by the walls, but not you. You see the way they ride out optimistic and return with bodies and blood and haunted eyes, but you also grew up seeing the way they did it anyway. Again and again, they would ride out, knowing the odds are not on their side but hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, this time would be different. The other representatives extolled the virtues of their regiments, the honors and privileges and benefits you would gain by choosing them. The scout does none of those things. Instead they read a list of statistics. Death tolls. Lost lives reduced to numbers that terrify you with their simple truth. When they are done, they look at the assembled cadets. "You will not have glory. The only privilege we can offer is the chance to ride beyond the walls. I will not lie to you - if you choose the scouts, it will likely mean your death. So, cadets. What would you rather die for? Here, pointlessly, inside a cage? Or outside, with the chance that your death will mean something, fighting for humanity?" They fix you with a look that seems to say, _Your call._ And they step back, their speech done.

You have a choice to make, now. You want to serve, have always known you would be a soldier, but who to follow? Do you want the life of idle luxury, unearned ease? Do you want the little-respected but necessary role of defending the walls, always looking for the distant threat of titans but never acting? Or will you chase freedom, go and confront the threat yourself knowing that no matter how much you do, someday you will be yanked out of the wide-open sky you crave? Will you fight, or merely watch for threats, or hide behind walls? 

"Cadets, please step forward. You are now soldiers. Please line up in front of the representative of your branch of choice." You look at the sky above you, and even in late evening you can see the walls hemming your view of it. You remember the view from the top of the wall, so huge and so far away. You remember your fellow cadets' speculations on what it would be like to live inside Wall Rose, protected by the lives of others. And you remember the way you once asked an off-duty scout what it was like outside the walls. What the sky looked like when it was free to fill the horizon. Whether it was worth it, risking death in exchange for freedom. You remember how the man's gaze went distant, and how he seemed a little less tethered than everyone around him, a little more solid, a bit less caged. "Yes." He'd told you. "Yes, it is."

And as you stand, you remember his words, and you choose. You never knew his name, never saw him again, but you overheard someone say that he hadn't come back from an expedition. That his body was never recovered. _He had no family._ People whispered, when they thought child-you couldn't hear. _His body will be lost outside the walls forever. A shame, that he chose to throw his life away for flimsy daydreams of freedom._ You think of the way he called it worth it, and you do not step toward safety and luxury like the rest of the top ten. You draw still more stares when you walk past a safe life of only watching for threats without stopping. You come to the Scout Legion's representative, another soldier whose name you don't know, and only then do you stop, coming to attention in perfect salute. "So," the soldier says, flicking their eyes up and down. "You want to join the Scout Legion?"

"Yes, Sir!" You say, and you can feel the stares on you back as they watch you choose to throw your life away.

"Why."

"I want to see the sky, sir." And even if it means your death, you have never been more sure of anything in your life.

"Seems like a stupid reason, to join what is basically a suicide regiment when you could just look up."

"I know, sir." You smile, and you stand firm. A moment passes, and the soldier sighs, before raising a hand in salute, one soldier to another.

You die, of course. You go on expeditions that you could count but choose not to, until finally your luck runs out. You have seen so many comrades die, killed so many titans with more blades than you ever thought you'd use, but eventually you lie on the ground, separated from the regiment with injuries you are aware will soon kill you, surrounded by a steaming group of titan corpses. You are dying, but instead of dwelling on that you think back to two nameless soldiers, one who told you this was worth it and inspired you to chase a mad dream and one who decided that you would do and welcomed you with a salute. Your injuries are many and your survival is a foregone conclusion, but you look at the wide open sky above you, unbound by walls or trees or titans. You look at the sun and the clouds and you feel the wind and the warmth on your face. You laugh, and you look. Freedom tastes like blood and looks like wide open sky and though you are dying you cannot bring yourself to regret a single thing that brought you here. "It's worth it." You whisper, and you salute one last time, though there is no one to hear and no one to remember. You remember your choice, and though you are dying you do not regret. You breathe in the sight of your freedom one last time, and you are still.

.

**Author's Note:**

> This plays with the idea of 'why would someone that hasn't watched any of the Walls fall join the Scouts?' and 'what about the people who aren't shifters, who won't be remembered? Who are they?'. This person could be anyone. They won't be remembered. They die alone. I hope you enjoyed this character study of the unknown scout.


End file.
